Getting There
by Rannin
Summary: If Warriors was a high school/if Warriors were humans has been done to death. So I'm going to kill it again.
1. Bowtie

I looked in the mirror and watched my face crinkle into frustration as I struggled with my bowtie. Today was my first day of high school at Lake Edge Preparatory School and already I was facing obstacles, mainly the uniform: Freshly ironed black pants, crisp long sleeved button down white shirt, and a dark green bowtie. I felt like some sort of miniature butler. Also my name was a little weird- Rusty. Okay, my full name was Russell Hallan Phillips, but nobody called me that. My best friend, Joey, had come up with his own nickname (Smudge) to make me feel not so out of place, but still.

"Rusty!" I heard my mom call from downstairs. "Hurry up! Smudge is waiting for you to come down!" Along with being my best friend, Smudge was also my next-door neighbor. I took one last look at myself in the mirror before I left the bathroom to make sure my light brown hair was combed neatly enough to pass my mother's inspection.

I opened the door and hurried down the stairs as quickly as I could. I grabbed my satchel from its peg on the coatrack and waved goodbye to my parents and baby sister before meeting Smudge out on the sidewalk. My sister, Princess, was only four years old and wouldn't be joining me at Lake Edge any time soon, thankfully.

"Hey, man, how's it going?" Smudge asked me as we began our first walk to school. I sighed and shook my head, not looking at him. Smudge echoed my sigh, "Okay, what's wrong? D'you have that dream again?" Occasionally I would have this dream where I was all tied up in this weird string. Constantly, I'd try to break free, but no matter how hard I tried I was always stuck. In the distance there'd always be some white light that I could never reach and the dream always left me gasping for breath when I woke up. I remained silent. "Oh my God," Smudge shook his head, "Dude, you gotta stop getting all weird about that. It's just a dream."

"Yeah, I know," I replied, kicking a loose pebble on the sidewalk. "But, I mean, what if it means something?"

"You gettin' all hippie on me now?" Smudge laughed and playfully punched my shoulder. I smiled back a little and was about to punch him back when he suddenly stopped short, all of the laughter deserting his eyes.

"What is it?" I asked. I followed his gaze; way down the street I could faintly make out the shapes of what looked to be three kids, all about our age. They didn't seem to see us, but Smudge wanted to make sure they never did. Without warning, he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me behind the closest neighbor's fence. I fell down with a huff and scrambled to my knees to look between the cracks of the white picket fence. "What's wrong?" I asked Smudge as I looked back at him. Smudge shook his head.

"Those guys were from Thunderson High. They're thugs," my friend replied as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. In a way, I could kind of understand where he was coming from. Smudge was nice, but he wasn't really in the best shape and his level of courage wasn't the highest. I'd heard stuff about students from Thunderson, but I'd never really met them. A couple of years ago, some younger kid from Lake Edge's middle school had gotten beaten up by a sophomore from Thunderson, but otherwise I hadn't seen any evidence of their supposed "malevolence". I looked back through the cracks in the fence to see that they'd gone.

"Smudge, I think we can get back up now," I stood up and helped my friend up before picking up my fallen satchel. I started back down the sidewalk and, after taking a brief look around, Smudge followed me. We walked in silence until the school came into sight. "What was the name of that kid who got attacked or something by some guy from Thunderson?" I asked as we entered the front doors. Smudge shrugged nonchalantly, obviously recovered from this morning's drama.

"I don't know. I don't think he goes here anymore though. Pretty sure he goes to one of those 'special' schools for kids hooked on drugs and shit." I nodded, not wanting to delve into that any more.

"Hey, Rusty," I turned around as a lilting feminine voice reached my ear. Standing behind me was a smiling girl I didn't recognize, but who apparently recognized me.

"Uh, hi," I replied, hoping I'd remember who she was before things got too awkward.

"It's good to see you back here. Some of us were afraid you'd go off to Thunderson." She said as she shifted from foot to foot. Taken a bit by surprise, I let out a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, well… here I am!" I said with an odd show of holding my arms out in as if to say "ta-da". I could feel Smudge rolling his eyes behind me.

"Well… I'll see you!" The girl walked past me and I waved to her just as she turned around.

"Who was that?" I asked Smudge as soon as she was out of earshot.

"Forget that," Smudge dismissed my question, "What did she mean by 'we thought you'd go off to Thunderson'? Are you?"

"No!" I shook my head, slightly taken a back. "I was just as surprised to hear that as you were."

To put it straight, classes were boring. But then again, what was I expecting? Freshman year at a prep school isn't exactly soap opera material. I did find out the name of that girl- Megan Nutte, who I guess I'd given a valentine to last year. The one thing I could think of the whole day was what she'd said about me going to Thunderson. Looking at a reflection of myself, I couldn't help but laugh at the idea. There was nothing about me that looked anything like the Thunderson stereotypes of dyed hair, tattooed bodies, and weird names (then again, how does someone _look_ like they have a weird name?) My hair was a light brown, cut just below my ears and rather clingy to my head, and my body was completely ink free. The only thing about my outward appearance that was a little different was my set of green eyes that had once been described as "striking". Still, as I sat there in my bowtie, listening to a talk on the differences between frequencies, periods, and lambdas, Megan's innocent comment wouldn't leave my head.

Smudge would be staying after school tonight. The lovable idiot had gotten caught jerking off in the boy's bathroom by the janitor, and since this violated Lake Edge's sanitation rules, the guy had earned himself a detention on the first day. I smiled and shook my head at the thought of him coming home to his parents and telling them what had happened.

I promptly stopped smiling as I realized that this meant I'd have to walk home alone in the dark. Lake Edge's hours were somewhat of a mystery. Classes began at 11:00 and ended at 6:00, so the sun was already going down. I hated this arrangement, as did everyone else, but no matter how much we questioned it we were never given a straight answer. A couple of street lamps illuminated the sidewalk, but that was it. The sun was pretty much gone by now and an autumn breeze ruffled my hair, sending shivers down my spine. My own footsteps scared me, I kept on thinking they belonged to someone else behind me. But every time I turned around, I saw no one. Once, I even thought I heard someone say something just a few feet from my back, but no one was there. The town of Thunderson, despite their public school's students, wasn't particularly dangerous. If anything, it was a quiet collection of gated neighborhoods. My parents weren't rich enough to live inside these gates, but most of my friends were.

As soon as I got with a couple blocks of my house, I started to relax. I was pretty much in the same spot that the kids that Smudge and I had seen earlier were in, so I knew it couldn't take that long to get to my house. I considered sprinting back when all of a sudden my heart leapt out of my chest as something hit me from behind and I fell to the ground, hard. I twisted around as fast as I could and saw a looming black mass of a person standing in front of me, their face shrouded in shadow. I got up and threw my satchel to the ground so that it couldn't choke me. As soon as I was back on my feet I realized that this person wasn't too much taller than me. I grabbed their collar and attempted to punch them in the face, but they blocked my fist with their arm and shoved me back with the other. Feeling frustrated and scared, I lunged at them again, but they ducked out of the way and grabbed both my arms, pulling them back. I screamed and yanked myself free. My attacker, caught up in the rush, took a run at me and without thinking I plunged my knee into his stomach as soon as he was in range. With a gasp of surprise and pain, the person fell to the ground and curled up as they tried to catch their breath.

Still tense, I stared down at my attacker, waiting for him to get up. Now my shadow loomed over him and my hands were still set in fists. After a while, I started to feel a little more worried for him than for me. He was still in a curled up position, but he wasn't gasping as much anymore. Slowly, I made my way over to my satchel, picked it up, and prepared to run back home

"Wait!" He said before I could leave. He got up and shook some hair out of his face before holding out his hand and giving me a big smile. "My name's Graystripe. What's yours?" I stared at him, then down at his hand, and then back to him. He looked at me expectantly and reached out his hand even more.

"What?" I replied, both of my hands gripping tightly to my satchel strap.

"It's cool, man, you can shake my hand. Don't worry, the fight's over!" Hesitantly, I reached out my hand and shook his. "Cool." Graystripe replied with a nod of his head. "Sorry I attacked you like that," he said, seeing my still tense body, "It wasn't anything bad or anything, it's just that a couple of my friends saw you this morning and dared me to hit you. So I did!"

"What friends?" I asked, thinking back to the people Smudge and I had seen earlier.

"Them," Graystripe pointed down the street where I could faintly make out two masculine shapes before they ran away after they saw their friend pointing. "My friends Lionheart and Whitestorm- they're both seniors. Well, it was actually just Lionheart's idea. Whitestorm thought it was stupid but decided to come along just in case I got in trouble."

"Okay, what's going on?" I asked, still scared and having no idea about what this guy was talking about.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry!" Graystripe slapped his forehead and shook his head, "Graystripe, Lionheart, and Whitestorm are just the names we call ourselves since we're in the-" Graystripe stopped and smiled. "I can't tell you. But, if you came to Thunderson I'm sure Bluestar would let you join."

"Let me join what? What's Bluestar?" I wished Smudge were with me now.

"Hey, man, listen," Graystripe's bubbly attitude was replaced by one of seriousness, "You go to Lake Edge, right? I would never make this offer to anyone from there, but you've got some guts and some skills. You just beat me in a fight and you were on the defense! If I'm reading you right, you're not happy at Lake Edge- I mean, is anyone? But seriously, if you want more freedom, better friends, and an exciting life, come over to Thunderson. We could use you."

"Graystripe!" Someone (Lionheart or Whitestorm, I guessed) called him from the end of the block.

"I'm coming!" Graystripe yelled back before turning to me. "Just think about it, okay?" With one last smile, the other boy ran off. I stared at him until he disappeared around the bend. After he was gone, I continued to stare, mesmerized. About five minutes passed before my legs decided to work again and I slowly made my way back home.


	2. The Moving Debate

I had trouble getting to sleep that night, as one might imagine. As I stared up at my darkened ceiling all I could see was Graystripe's dimly lit face as he told me as much as he could about Thunderson. I thought about how scared Smudge had been when he'd seen who I now assumed to be Graystripe earlier today and how much Thunderson kids were gossiped about at school. I thought about how uncomfortable I was in my little bowtie and pressed shirt and, oddly enough, about my dream.

The next morning I showered and got dressed as quickly as I could before making my way downstairs. My dad was still sitting at the breakfast table, working on a plate of eggs while simultaneously scanning over the sports section. My mom, bent over the stove, was still in her bathrobe and hair curlers. After a few seconds of silence my father finally looked up and noticed me, "Hey, Rusty, you're down here early. Eager for that second day of school?"

"Um… actually," I began, glad that my sister was in the other room watching TV. My parents hated nonconformity and if I were to even visit Thunderson High I'd automatically be different from every other kid in our neighborhood. But thinking back to the excitement and adrenaline I'd felt when I faced Graystripe, I decided to keep going, "I don't think Lake Edge is really working." My dad put down his newspaper and my mom looked up from the stove.

"What do you mean?" She asked, wiping her hands on a sink towel.

"I mean… I just… I don't really want to go to Lake Edge anymore. You know, I've been going to the Lake Edge schools for the past nine years and I'd really like a change. I'm just not motivated there." My parents exchanged glances and I felt myself begin to sweat a little.

"Where else would you consider going?" My mom asked, obviously trying to keep her temper under control. I knew it was killing both of them not to start yelling at me, or to just tell me flat out that I was staying at Lake Edge, but recently we'd made an agreement as a family to hear each other out more. Now, I knew that there'd less likely be a fight if I told them I was considering a different private school- and if my only argument was that I felt unmotivated at Lake Edge, that would be true. But that wasn't my intention at all, and I needed to let them know that before they made that my intention.

"I want to go to Thunderson High," I pressed my fists to my sides and waited for their reaction. My dad's eyes only widened in surprise and my mom's mouth formed a tight slit.

Finally, my dad spoke up, "Thunderson?" I nodded, more vigorously than I'd expected. "Why?"

"Honey, you know the school reviews for Thunderson High School aren't very good," My mom cut in before I could answer, "And our poor, elderly neighbor, Mr. Henry, said he saw some of the students knock over his mailbox with their car."

"How did he know they were from Thunderson?" I asked, thinking instantly of Graystripe.

My mother hesitated for a second before replying, "He saw a school bumper sticker on the back of the car." With his eyesight? I didn't think so, but I didn't say anything to contradict her.

"Russell-"

"Rusty," I stopped my dad before he could go on.

"Rusty," He looked at me pointedly, "Going to Thunderson would be a huge decision. Imagine if you went there and you didn't like it. You wouldn't be able to come back to Lake Edge, they're very exclusive. Hundreds of boys and girls your age would love to be in the spot you're in, and if you give that up, you'll be stuck in public school. Would you be willing to take that risk?" I nodded, just as eagerly as before. I didn't know what was pushing this desire to go. I mean, my encounter with Graystripe last night had definitely made me think, but it wasn't like I was making a huge life decision. My parents looked at each other again. I looked up at the clock: 10:45. Smudge would be here any second and I'd have to leave for school. But what if I left and didn't come back? What if I ditched Smudge and ran off to Thunderson and found Graystripe?

The clank of spoon against granite jolted me out of my thoughts, "Alright." My mother said sharply as she finally turned off the stove. "Go to school. Your father and I will talk about it and we'll continue this conversation when you get back." I grabbed my satchel and bolted outside. I couldn't believe they hadn't said no. This was the farthest in a debate I had ever gotten with my parents and I didn't want to screw it up by staying around for too long.

I ran down my driveway and stopped once I got to the sidewalk. "Smudge!" He was just behind me and had to jog to catch up with me.

"Hey- holy shit!" Smudge stared wide eyed at my right hand.

"What? Dude, what's wrong?" I asked, following his gaze. Then I saw the rather noticeable red mark along my knuckles. My parents must not have noticed it earlier because of all my fist clenching. "Oh, yeah, it's just a bruise."

"Where'd you get a bruise?" Smudge asked, still incredulous. If you lived in a neighborhood like mine, the only way you'd get a bruise is if you accidently ran into the fence that guarded it. My house was practically the first one in so that wasn't very unlikely, but of course, that wasn't what had happened. After informing him on the events of last night he only stared at me wide-eyed.

"And get this," I added, "I'm trying to convince my parents to let me transfer to Thunderson."

"What?" Smudge stopped walking altogether and pulled me back the shoulder. "What the hell, man, you're just going to leave me and go get killed? You're gonna go get drunk and get hit in the face and get tattoos in uncomfortable places?"

"Well, not the tattoos and probably not the drinking," I replied, "But I don't know what it is, I really want to go. Plus my parents said they'd think about it and discuss it with me some more after I got home. I don't want to leave you, Smudge, but think about it. I was never happy in the Lake Edge schools and high school might be a good place to change all of that."

"Are you gonna move? Will I ever see you again?" Smudge asked a little frantically. It occurred to me then that, outside of myself, Smudge didn't really have many friends. He wasn't popular, he had no good looks or good grades to keep him going, and he didn't have the charisma to find other guys to hang out with. I felt a pang of guilt, but I knew I couldn't turn back now. The bruise on my fist reminded me of the potential I had to be something more than a cookie cutter replica of thousands of other over privileged kids.

"I'm not moving, Smudge, we'll still be neighbors. But something tells me that Thunderson classes start around 8:00, not 11:00."

"So we won't even be walking together? Not even for a little bit?" The last time I had seen Smudge cry was when we were seven and he'd accidently driven his "life size" toy car into a wall. He wasn't crying now, but his voice was wavering. I shook my head. The walk from our houses to the gate only took about two minutes, and Thunderson and Lake Edge were in two different directions.

"I'm really sorry, Smudge. I'll message you on Facebook, though, I promise. Besides, it's not like my parents are actually going to let me leave Lake Edge anyway." I felt ashamed when I said this because I realized that I felt worse about the prospect of staying at Lake Edge than I did about leaving my best friend.

"You're actually letting me go?" After I'd walked in the door to my house after school, my parents looked up from where they sat at the kitchen table. I hadn't even said a word and they'd given me their verdict.

"For a visit with the principle," My father added, a look of disapproval still lingering in his eyes. "Then your mother and I will be able to get acquainted with the school as well."

"When are we going?" I asked, my heart starting to pound a little faster.

"Tomorrow," my mother said with a sigh. "You'll be missing the beginning of class, but only the beginning. Thunderson's classes start at 8:04, so if you're really considering this you'd better get used to waking up early."

"Holy crap, yes!" I pumped my fist in the air but quickly toned down my excitement at the sight of my parents' stern gazes.

"Language, Rusty," my mom said without really looking at me as she left the room. Not wanting my parents' cold attitudes to get to me, I ran upstairs to my bedroom and threw my satchel on the floor. I flopped down on my bed and tried to calm my racing heartbeat, but to no avail. I was going to Thunderson. I was going to Thunderson.

What are you getting all excited for? I asked myself. _Your parents could be right. You could be throwing away your safety net for success. With the way you met Graystripe, by the time you're done meeting everyone you might end up in the hospital. And what about Smudge? You're just going to leave him alone?_ But I pushed those thoughts away and instead opened one of my bedroom windows. I looked up at the dimly lit sky and tried to pick out a star or two before going to sleep.

That night, I had the dream again. I was surrounded in darkness, tied up by that hard rope that never loosened. But in the distance, where the light that I could never get to shone, came a hand. It reached for the rope that bound me and grabbed hold of it. I struggled to get free and for the first time since I could remember, the rope started to loosen.


	3. Modern Warrior

As I walked at a steady pace down a hallway of Thunderson High with my parents, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. None of the classroom doors were open, so I couldn't see in them, but I knew that somewhere in here were people like Graystripe who weren't as friendly. The awkward silence enforced equally by my parents and myself was suffocating. It was clear they were displeased with this turn of events and even I was still at a loss as to why they'd decided to let me visit. Once we got to the main office and came in sight of a normal looking human being, I started to breathe a little easier. The woman who I assumed to be the receptionist looked up at us with a smile, "How may I help you?" She asked.

"I'm Mrs. Phillips, Russell's mother. My husband and I called yesterday to schedule an appointment with Principle Pine?" My mom's bun was tied almost as tightly as her smile.

"Oh, yes, just knock on that door and he should be ready to talk to you," the receptionist pointed to a door a couple of yards away with "Principle" printed on it in faded capital letters.

My father led the three of us up to the wooden door and knocked rather softly, perhaps hoping Principle Pine wouldn't hear. "Come on," a gruff voice answered the knock without skipping a beat. As soon as my dad opened the door a gust of cold wind hit my face. Within seconds I wished I had brought a jacket or at least a sweater with me. Inside the room were two bookshelves all crammed with reading material. In between them was a table covered in binders and various files and in front of that was a desk. Behind the desk sat a big boned, dark haired man who indeed wore a coat and sported a soft looking mustache. Despite his gruff voice and seemingly expressionless face, the smile lines around his eyes betrayed his stern appearance.

After my parents and I each shook the principle's hand and introduced ourselves, we sat down in the three chairs adjacent to the desk. "So, Russell," Principle Pine began, looking directly at me. "You're interested in transferring to Thunderson High School?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"What school do you attend now?"

"Lake Edge," I replied. Principle Pine raised his eyebrows slightly and his mouth curled up in a bit of a smile.

"Lake Edge?" He repeated, "That's quite a change!" I smiled a little too, letting myself relax a bit more. Seeing me less stiff, Principle Pine smiled completely and at the sight of the man's warm eyes I felt any tension between him and me lift away. Now all that was left was to get my parents to feel the same way, but I knew his next question wouldn't help that.

"Why do you want to come to Thunderson?" he asked. I kept myself from looking at my parents before answering. I knew if I saw their expressions I'd feel pressured to throw the visit.

"Well, I guess Lake Edge doesn't motivate me that much," I began, "Plus I don't really have that many friends there and I don't feel like I fit in. I feel like I need a new challenge. And I want to go to a place where the name 'Rusty' doesn't sound weird."

"Rusty, eh?" Principle Pine chucked, "It's a shame you don't have red hair, then the name would be obvious!" My mother frowned slightly at the thought. In the Phillips family, your hair was either a dark blond or a light brown. Nothing outside of that spectrum had ever been seen on the head of our flesh and blood. "I wouldn't worry too much about that, son. My own son's in a club here where they all come up with little nicknames for each other. What was it again…oh, Tigerclaw, that's what it is!" I started at the sound of the name.

"What club is that?" I asked, maybe a little too eagerly with my parents sitting right on either side of me. Principle Pine opened a desk draw and pulled out a binder.

"Well, there are many clubs that Thunderson High offers," he explained as he flipped through the binder's pages, "But the one I'm referring to is our martial arts club. It's highly exclusive, highly demanding, and- if you ask me- a little too highly dangerous. But the kids at Thunderson High, for the most part, don't have a reputation for being…" Principle Pine scrunched his eyebrows in search for a word, "Athletic." I nodded in understanding, "Plus with all of the tournaments- all student-run and organized, by the way- the school gets more publicity."

"I'm sorry, tournaments?" My father, the sports connoisseur of our family, finally showed a look that was not one of disapproval.

"Yes," Principle Pine replied, "With the three neighboring towns; Riverside, Shady Hill, and Winnder. They meet every day after school from 3:10-6:30. Like I said, it's a big time commitment, but from what I can tell from my son and his friends, it's very rewarding. If you're interested, you should talk to Brittane Noble. She's in the senior class and is the current head of club. It's called 'Modern Warrior', I believe. Open to anyone ages 14-18." I nodded again as I tried to take this all in.

"How many members are there right now?" I asked.

The older man thought for a moment, "Nineteen," he concluded, "Although the number is always changing?"

"And why is that?" My mother asked abruptly. Looking down at her hands I could see that they were clutching the arms of her seat. Principle Pine looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Some just lose interest," he finally replied, "Others are kicked out. And, unfortunately, a small few have been hospitalized," A thick coat of silence fell over the room. "There's nothing we can do about it." Principle Pine added after a minute.

"And you said your son is in this… club?" I could feel my mom slowly but surely coming to the conclusion that I would not be attending this school.

"Yes," the principle nodded, "He's a senior now and he's been in it since he was a freshman. He really seems to enjoy it. It's a good stress reliever, he says."

"Hm." My mother nodded but said nothing more. I for one kept on waiting for any of the adults to bring up the academic advantages of Thunderson, but none of them did. It didn't matter to me either way, all I'd wanted to know about was the club, Modern Warrior. I thought about what Principle Pine had said, about some kids being hospitalized. My heart sank as I realized my parents would never let me come here now. "Well," my mother stood up sharply and pushed the strap of her purse high on her shoulder. "We'll talk about it over dinner tonight and we'll call you if we decide to let Russell attend here."

We'd just opened the door and were about step outside when Principle Pine added, "Maybe he should have a say in the decision too." I knew my parents had heard him but they didn't acknowledge it. I, on the other hand, looked back at him and gave him a weak smile. The principle nodded at me and that was the last thing I saw before my dad shut the door.

We left the main office just as the bell rang. Almost instantly, the classroom doors opened and kids started pouring out. To my and my parent's surprise, most of the people we saw looked, aside from the lack of uniforms, like normal kids you'd see at Lake Edge. There was no one with weird hair or tattooed faces, just girls with combed hair and guys with tired faces. Every now and again, though, I'd think I'd see someone who stood out from the crowd, but every time I'd try to look directly at them they'd disappear.

"Hey!" I whipped around and saw Graystripe waving at me frantically as he was swept down the hall. Caught off guard, all I could do was wave back. Now that he was in full light I could see him better; his hair was pulled back in a shaggy gray ponytail and a black stripe ran vertically down his scalp. Looking closely, I could see the black was just a dyed part of his hair, as was the gray (probably). Walking next to him was a small Asian kid with hair that was even longer than Graystripe's. Graystripe nudged him, pointed at me and said something, but by that time they were too out of ear shot.

Once we were out in the parking lot I realized it had rained while we'd been inside. The pavement was all slick with water and a thin mist rested over our heads. "Who was that?" My mom asked once we were almost at the car.

"Who was who?" I asked, still thinking about everything Principle Pine had said.

"The boy who shouted at you in the hallway?"

I slid into the back of the car and shut the door. "I don't know," I replied. Both of my parents remained silent through the duration of the drive. It wasn't until we were within a few blocks of our community that my dad broke the silence by coughing.

As soon as we pulled into our garage, I slid out of the car and got into the house first. I ran up the stairs similarly to the way I'd ran out of the house yesterday after my parents had promised to consider Thunderson. Shutting my bedroom door behind me, I looked around the room for a pen and a sticky note. After finding them, I wrote, "Modern Warrior" and under that, "Brittane Noble- senior". I stuck the note to my bedframe and hoped it would hold a meaning one day. I looked at the digital clock on my bed stand: 2:20. I had completely forgotten that my mom had promised me that I'd only miss morning classes at Lake Edge and, apparently, she'd forgotten too. Either that, or she and my dad were still mulling over the Lake Edge-Thunderson decision. I decided to hole up in my room until I was called to do otherwise. Finding myself instantaneously bored, I pulled out my laptop from underneath my bed. As I opened Google Chrome, I realized I hadn't closed my Facebook tab. I typed in my username and password and was greeted with three messages from Smudge.

_11:10 AM: Where are you?_

_1:00 PM: Are you coming to school today?_

_1:02 PM: Are you at Thunderson!?_

I stared at the screen while my fingers hovered over the keyboard. Finally, I typed:

_I went for a visit with my parents. After what the principle told them, things aren't looking up. But just in case… don't be too surprised if I don't show up to school tomorrow._

I read over what I typed and deleted the last sentence. Smudge didn't need to know that even if my parents said I couldn't go to Thunderson that I'd somehow find a way over there. Smudge was offline, but I hit "send" anyway. He'd get the message.


	4. Fight Me

Yes. They'd said yes. I couldn't believe it, I was actually going to Thunderson High. They said I could go as long as I didn't join the club Principle Pine had talked about, but as that was the only reason I'd wanted to transfer, I decided to ignore that one rule. My only concern was that I didn't know how to join. I figured my best bet would be to find Graystripe and ask him, but (assuming Graystripe wasn't his real name) I couldn't ask the staff about him and it was highly unlikely I'd find one person in a school of 1753 strangers. For the most part, my classes were relatively similar to the ones I took at Lake Edge. My classmates paid me as much attention as they did the chalkboard gathering dust in the back of the room and only looked at me when I said "here" during attendance. The majority of my classes were in the honor's course since Lake Edge had, admittedly, put me a little ahead of the average Thunderson freshman. Lunch wasn't all that fun- since I didn't know anybody, I ended up eating outside under a tree by myself. While I munched on a sandwich, I noticed something interesting. Over by a side entrance, I saw three guys exit and start running toward the parking lot. I recognized one of them as the Asian kid I'd seen with Graystripe the other day. I almost called out to him, but he and his companions jumped into a car and sped away before I could say anything.

It wasn't until art class- the last period of the day- that things started to get interesting. There were four floors at Thunderson High including the basement and I came to realize that the farther down you went the odder things seemed to be. I didn't really know how else to explain it, but I knew the minute I walked into the art room (the only class I had in the basement) that there was something different about the atmosphere. The room was long and narrow with small tables lined up against the two longer walls. The tables sat two people each and as I looked closer I noticed that there were green notecards in front of every chair, each of which had a different name on it. When I finally came to mine, I sat down at my seat awkwardly and glanced over at my table partner. She had strawberry blond hair that was shaved off on one side and long on the other. A small tattoo of an unrecognizable shape was slightly visible on her left wrist. "Yeah?" I jumped in my seat at the sound of her voice. Guess she'd caught me looking at her.

"Um, nothing," I turned to face the front of the room and hoped these seats weren't permanent. Minutes later, after the remaining students had found their places in the room, I felt something hit me in the back of the head. I turned around and saw a crumpled up piece of paper behind my chair. Looking up, I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Graystripe sitting all the way in the back of the room. He looked pointedly at the piece of wadded up paper so I picked up and unfurled it.

_Come to room 103 after class. Also, ignore Sandstorm. She's the one sitting next to you._

I glanced at Sandstorm again, then turned around to look at Graystripe. He winked, then jerked his head toward the door before pointing to the clock. He cocked his eyebrows and nodded and I nodded back. He gave me a thumbs up before returning to his work.

At the sound of the final bell I felt simultaneous relief and anxiety. Relieved, because I didn't have to sit next to Sandstorm any more. She wasn't openly mean to me, but she still made me feel uncomfortable. But the anxiety soon took over at the prospect of following Graystripe to room 103 and staying there for at least three hours with a group of people I didn't know. The second I left the classroom I was greeted with a "Boo!" from Graystripe, who'd pressed himself against the wall. I caught my breath and jumped back a bit. "Haha! I totally got you!" Graystripe laughed as he motioned for me to follow him.

"Look, man, I'm scared enough as it is," I said to him as we shoved our way through the hallway, "If this doesn't turn out well I'm stuck here for the next four years." The reality of it was just sinking in and I began to wonder if I'd made a huge mistake.

"Trust me, dude, you'll have fun," Graystripe called over his shoulder as we neared room 103. "Seeing as how you…won that night, I'd be surprised if Bluestar didn't let you in." The minute I entered the room I met with a feeling of surprise. I'd been expecting students punching each other, practicing martial arts, meditating, even. But while the training dummies were set up and there were, admittedly, a few weapons scattered around, everyone in the room was just casually talking. They all seemed totally relaxed, one of them was even eating a cookie. The shock must've been obvious on my face, for Graystripe laughed and shook his head. "Come on," he began walking away, "Let's go see Bluestar." As I followed him to a corner of the room, I felt a few glances dart my way, but none of them really lingered. I guess since it was still the beginning of the school year, late comers weren't terribly uncommon.

The far left corner of the room was closed off by a dark green curtain. Graystripe knocked on the wall next to it, "Hey, Bluestar, can I come in?"

"Sure," a female voice replied from behind the green waves. Graystripe pulled it aside to reveal a tall, older looking girl sitting behind a desk and writing something in a notebook. Her hair was straight as a pin and dyed a silvery blue. She looked up from what she was doing and our eyes met. "Who's this?" Bluestar asked, keeping her voice neutral.

"This is my friend, Rusty," Graystripe replied, "He wants to join Modern Warrior."

"Oh, do you have an older brother or sister or something who did this?" she asked. "It's just that I've never really seen you before and I was wondering why you wanted to…" she added, seeing the confused look on my face. I shook my head.

"No, I actually went to Lake Edge before. This is my first day at Thunderson." Bluestar's eyes lit up with sudden interest.

"Really?" she asked. "Huh." The older girl closed her notebook and stood up. "Hey!" she yelled as she walked past me and Graystripe. Everyone in the room turned their attention to her. She motioned for me to step forward, "Guys, this is Rusty." A murmur of hellos traveled through the group. "He just transferred from Lake Edge and he wants to try out for Modern Warrior." It looked as if Bluestar was about to say more, but before she could a different voice from the crowd piped up.

"If he's transferring from Lake Edge he shouldn't get to try out," I could tell from the volume and tone of voice that the comment was a whisper meant to be heard.

"Longtail?" Bluestar called out into the crowd. "You wanna say something?"

"Uh, yeah," replied "Longtail". I squirmed uncomfortable at the thought of facing opposition so quickly. A boy stepped out in front of everyone, too confidently. He was considerably tall, but his face made him look as if he couldn't be too much older than me. His hair was long, clearly bleached, and pulled back into a loose ponytail. Looking closer I noticed that he had a few black stripes running horizontally across the end of his hair, similar to the Asian kid I'd seen earlier. "Guys like him have already got the better grades, the better stuff, the better family. What we've got is special, but it's all we've got. Do we wanna give him something extra? Something that has to be earned, that we need, but that he can buy his way into and doesn't need?" I could tell that Longtail took this a lot more seriously than most of the people here. While a couple of them were nodding in agreement with what he said, most of them looked impartial. "Look, all I'm saying is that if he really wants to do this he shouldn't have to be tested like normal guys are. He should actually have to fight."

"He already fought me," I heard Graystripe mutter from where he'd silently slinked into the crowd.

"Shut up, Graystripe." I jumped at the sound of Longtail's accusatory voice, assuming I'd been the only one to hear my friend's comment. Looking up at Bluestar, I realized in slight dismay that while she didn't seem to be enjoying what was going on, she wasn't making a move to stop it. "Hey!" Deep in my thoughts, I didn't realize that not only had Longtail continued talking to me, he'd walked up to me until we were nose to chest. I looked up at him and our eyes met. "I'll destroy you." Before I could react, he grabbed me by the shirt collar and threw me down to the ground. I heard a gasp of surprise come from a good number of students. I looked over at the door I'd come through and realized with horror that it was closed. I scrambled up to my feet, only to have Longtail's fist connect with my stomach, sending me back on the ground again. Spots started to flash in my eyes and felt a throbbing in the back of my head. I got up again and pulled back my arm to deliver my own punch, but Longtail swept my legs in one smooth motion and dug his elbow into my back as I hit the ground for the third time. I tasted blood and felt tears stinging my eyes.

"Longtail, stop it! You're being an idiot, get off him!" Bluestar was finally doing something to stop him. I looked up slightly but could only see shoes. The pressure on my back lifted and I rolled over on my other side so that my face was turned towards the ceiling's fluorescent lights. I could feel the shame washing over me as I gasped for breath. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Longtail heading for the door, probably to wash his hands of any of my blood that had gotten on them. On the other side of the room, people were looking at me with pity and some soon began to dismiss my presence. Suddenly, I felt something I had never felt to this high degree before. Somewhere inside me, a flame was beginning to grow. I had given up my best friend, the moral support of my family, and possibly even Graystripe's friendship to be lying on the floor covered in sweat and defeat. Against my body's will, I got up and, swiftly and quietly as I could ran after Longtail.

I could feel everyone, including myself, holding their breath as I reached the other boy just as he got to the door. Without thinking, I grabbed the ponytail for which he was probably named and yanked it as hard as I could. With a scream of surprise and pain, Longtail stumbled back and I took the opportunity to shove him into the wall. He collided with the scraggly plaster on his side and as he fell away I noticed a few drops of blood smeared on the whiteness of the wall. Clutching the side of his head where I guess his ear to be, he fell to his knees and groaned. "You motherfucker you tore my earing out!" He shouted at me from his place on the ground.

"Come down," a voice much softer in comparison reached my ears as another figure came running from the crowd. A girl about the same age as Bluestar knelt down beside Longtail and gently pulled his hands away from his ear. "See, it's just a scratch. Your earing's still there, shhh." The girl helped up the shaking Longtail and led him away to the back of the room, curtained off like Bluestar's corner. I watched her go in total awe. Her hair was long, wavy, voluminous, and it curled slightly at the ends. The color ranged from brown to black to white to orange in a misshapen pattern of splotches.

"Dude…" Graystripe came up behind me and shook his head. "That was awesome! You're in, buddy!" He held up his hand to give me a high five. Still shaking from the fight, I tentatively hit his hand back. "Yeah! Alright!"

I heard the sound of Bluestar clapping among everyone else's excited murmuring. "That was really cool, Rusty," she said as she came up on my left side. "You've definitely got some stuff to learn, but your determination and perseverance is refreshing. From this moment on, you'll be known to everyone here as Fireheart! Welcome to Modern Warrior!" At the sound of Graystripe's "Whoo!" everyone else followed suit in cheering and clapping. A broad smile broke out on my face. People seemed genuinely pleased that I had joined.

"Hey, Fireheart, that was a good fight!" A familiar older looking boy said as he came up to congratulate me. "I remember you," he continued, "You were the one me and Whitestorm dared Graystripe to jump. Sorry about that, by the way. I'm Lionheart." He stuck out his hand and I shook it eagerly. I had won a fight, made it in, and now people were starting to like me. Now that he mentioned it, I realized I did recognize Lionheart. His spikey yellow-tipped orange hair and matching goatee were not to be missed. Looking over his shoulder I saw Whitestorm as well. He gave me a small smile and nodded before returning to the conversation he was having with another guy. I had to do a double take at the sight of Whitestorm and the guy he was talking to for they looked like exact opposites. Whitestorm, as his name would suggest, had shocking white hair that was cut neatly on top of a tanned, well-toned body. The other one had a messy jet black fringe that ended in silver surrounding a face that was almost as white as Whitestorm's hair.

Looking around some more, I noticed to my dismay (but not at all to my surprise) Sandstorm talking to a brown haired boy about my age. Once and a while the two of them would look over at me and glare. "Hey, dude, Fireheart!" Graystripe grabbed my shoulders from behind and used them to propel himself upward before landing in front of me. "That was totally awesome! And your name's cool too, much better than Graystripe." I laughed, mostly out of relief to see another friendly face after receiving the cold shoulder from Sandstorm and her friend. "Okay, let me tell you everything I've learned in the past week. Also, from what I could get out of my brother, but that's not much."

"Who's your brother?" I asked, not having noticed anyone who looked too much like my gray haired friend. Graystripe pointed to the guy Whitestorm had been talking to earlier who seemed to be heading to where Longtail was being bandaged. "That's Darkstripe. He's kind of a dick, to be honest. He's a junior, mainly hangs out with Tigerclaw, sometimes Longtail and Dusty. That's Dusty," he pointed to the boy Sandstorm was talking to. "You beat the shit out of Longtail, so you know who that is. Tigerclaw's a senior and… he's not here right now…" Graystripe trailed off as he looked around the room for Tigerclaw, but not finding him. "Oh, there's also Raven. He's also kind of my best friend, so we can be a threesome now!" He laughed a second after he'd heard his choice of words. I smiled and shook my head, trying to hide my amusement. "Anyway, I haven't seen him since this morning," Graystripe continued, "I wonder where-" A door I hadn't noticed in the back was suddenly thrown open and everyone turned to look at who had arrived. "There he is," Graystripe finished under his breath.

I recognized Raven as the Asian kid I'd seen before, but he looked nothing like he had earlier. His shirt was torn and a flower of blood was blossoming near the base of his shirt. Panting, he stumbled in and clutched at where he was bleeding. A couple of people ran to help him stand up while Whitestorm shut the door behind him. Bluestar ran up to him with a wet cloth and started dabbing his face with it in an effort to calm him down, "Oh my God, Raven, what happened? Where the hell have you been? What are you doing? Where are Redtail and Tigerclaw?" Raven shook his head quickly, then slowly. The minute he stopped shaking his head, his eyes rolled up and collapsed on the ground. Any pride and happiness I'd felt instantly drained away at the sight of a boy my age who looked like he'd just been shot.


	5. Tigerclaw's Story

Chapter 5

"What's going on?" I asked Graystripe worriedly. The girl who'd helped Longtail before came out from behind the curtain. Gingerly, she picked up the boy who'd just passed out- Raven- and carried him back to where I could now just barely see Longtail lying on a mattress.

"I don't know," Graystripe replied, shaking his head. "I'm sure Raven will tell us when he comes to. Anyway-"

"Wait," I was a little surprised at my new friend's sudden change of attitude. At first he'd been shocked and worried, as anyone would, but now he seemed fine and ready to continue with his introductions. "How are you not freaking out right now? I mean, are we sure he's okay?"

Graystripe took deep breath and shook his head again, "Sorry, Rusty, I keep forgetting you're so knew to this." He lowered his voice, "Look, don't get too freaked out, but what just happened with Raven? Well, that stuff's not really… uncommon. I mean, it's not like it happens all the time, but it's not completely unheard of for someone to come running in here bleeding and scared." As I looked Graystripe deep in the eyes a million questions ran through my mind.

I started with the most obvious one, "How does no one at the school know about this?"

"Principle Pine is Tigerclaw's dad," Graystripe replied, "He puts so much trust in his son that he completely leaves us alone. Officially, Bluestar's the club's president, but I think Principle Pine would like to think otherwise. Come to think of it, I'm surprised Tigerclaw isn't in charge, but that doesn't matter right now. Pine says that as long as we keep the place clean, no janitors or anything will bug us. The thing is, this room is too big to be a normal classroom and too small to be a gym, so it's ours and nobody disturbs it. I mean, how else would we get away with all the curtains and nun chucks? Plus Spottedleaf's got, like, six mattresses back there." He pointed to where Raven and Longtail were resting. "Spottedleaf's really hot," Graystripe continued, a coy smile beginning to form, "And really sweet. Unfortunately, she's dating Longtail." I was broken out of my inner storm of confusion upon hearing this information. I hadn't realized until hearing that she was dating someone (Longtail of all people) that I'd fallen for Spottedleaf the second I saw her. I looked over at where she was; the curtains were drawn, but I could see her legs as she knelt down beside Longtail and seemed to be stroking his forehead. I pushed away the unjust feelings of jealousy I had and tried to turn back to the more serious matter at hand.

"But what happened to Raven?"

Graystripe shrugged, "I dunno, probably someone from one of the other schools attacked him. I wouldn't be surprised, especially if he was on his own. Raven's not the greatest fighter and he shows it."

"I don't think he was alone." I added quietly.

"What?" Graystripe scrunched up his nose and turned back to look at me. I told him what I'd seen earlier that day during lunch. "Oh," Graystripe nodded his head as if he were remembering something, "Yeah, that makes sense. That was probably Redtail and Tigerclaw you saw with him, which would explain why they're not here." As soon as Graystripe finished speaking, the back door flew open again. This time the new arrival got an even bigger reaction out of the crowd. It was one of the boys I'd seen running away with Raven, the more rugged and muscular one. The bridge of his nose was bleeding and he seemed almost as out of breath as Raven had. "Yep, that's Tigerclaw."

Tigerclaw scanned the crowd, not saying anything until his eye's locked with Bluestar's. "A couple nights ago, Redtail got drunk at Crookedstar's party," his voice was grim but steady, "He got into some trouble with this guy from Riverside, Oakheart. Since it was Crookedstar's house there were a lot more of his friends than there were of ours. To make it fair, Oakheart said Redtail could choose two guys and he'd choose two and we'd meet at a neutral spot in two days. Red chose me and Raven. We got down to the alley in between Dewie's Coffee and that hair salon, where they said to meet and waited for a while without them showing. Just as we were gonna leave, they sprung out from nowhere and attacked us. Oakheart wasn't sober," As Tigerclaw went on I noticed Bluestar tensing up, her arms folded, fists clenched. "Finally, Oakheart somehow managed to flip Redtail on his front side and break both his legs. Out of defense for our friend, I rushed Oakheart and sent him flying to a wall. Something cracked. Raven ran off and so did Oakheart's guys. I called him and Redtail an ambulance and ran back here as soon as I could." Bluestar's face was completely ashen and she held her head in her hands.

"They're going to be fine," Tigerclaw continued, "But they're not coming back for a while." Without another word, Tigerclaw made his way to Spottedleaf's corner to get a bandage for his nose. Bluestar retreated to her side of the room and almost instantly everyone began talking again.

"Wow…" Graystripe murmured, "Raven's so lucky, I wish I could've gotten in a fight like that!"

"Really?" I asked, more than slightly skeptical.

Graystripe faltered, "Well, I guess not like that," he replied, "What Oakheart and Redtail did isn't really what we're supposed to do. See, between us, Riverside High, Shady Hill High- or just SHH- and Winnder High, most of our real competition is seen in organized tournaments that we hold every once and a while. But sometimes the rivalries get a little too real and something like this happens."

"Who's Crookedstar?" I asked, thinking back to what Tigerclaw had said.

"Crookedstar's the Bluestar of Riverside," Graystripe answered, "SHH's got Brokenstar and Winnder's got Tallstar."

"Where do these names come from?"

Graystripe shrugged, "They're usually based off of a physical or personality trait." I nodded, assuming my name had been chosen for my "firey determination" or something. "Hey!" Graystripe exclaimed as if remembering something, "That reminds me, your name is Fireheart now, right? You know what that means?" I shook my head, slightly weary, "We get to dye your hair red and orange! Plus you'll get a sweet-ass tattoo." My eyes widened and before I could say anything, my gray haired friend was tugging on my arm. "Come on, let's go see Raven!" As Graystripe pulled me toward Raven and Longtail's resting place, I let my eyes wander around the room. They stopped at Tigerclaw; he was sitting on a windowsill holding an icepack on the bridge of his nose. Graystripe's brother Darkstripe was sitting on the other end of the sill and appeared to be talking to him, but Tigerclaw's head was turned more toward the window than to his friend. I saw the darker haired boy jerk his head in my direction and Tigerclaw suddenly turned to face me. Our eyes locked for a split second before I was pulled behind a curtain. Chills ran up my spine as I realized something off-putting about Tigerclaw: he had red eyes. I mean, I was sure they were just contacts, but it was still creepy. Now that I thought of it, a lot of people here had oddly colored eyes. Graystripe's and Darkstripe's were both yellow and Bluestar's eyes were a bright electric blue (as her name would suggest).

I tried to focus my attention on the situation at hand. Behind Spottedleaf's curtain was an assortment of six mattresses, two of which were harboring Longtail and Raven. In the corner was a book shelf filled with various first aid supplies. "Hey buddy," Graystripe sat down beside Raven, who was starting to come to.

"Oh, hey Graystripe," he replied weakly. Spottedleaf had removed his shirt to deal with the wound on his torso. Although it was bandaged, I could see now that it wasn't a bullet wound, thankfully. Raven remained silent while his eyes slid over in my direction.

"Oh, hi," I waved at the boy lying on the mattress, expecting him to be in too much pain to really acknowledge me.

But instead he smiled and held out his hand, "Hi, I'm Raven," I tentatively shook it, afraid of hurting him.

"This is Fireheart," Graystripe added, "He just joined us today. He totally kicked Longtail's ass!"

"Hell he did not," Longtail muttered from his mattress. A small smile tugged at the corner of Spottedleaf's mouth before she knelt down beside him again to give him a refreshed ice pack. I turned my attention back to Raven, remembering what Graystripe had said about Spottedleaf being already taken by Longtail. Raven laughed a little, then stopped and clutched at his side, his face turning white.

"So I don't wanna put you in pain," Graystripe said, noticing how Raven's wound had reacted to his laughter, "But what happened with Tigerclaw and Redtail? And why did Redtail choose you to go along with him? No offense or anything." I sat down next to Graystripe on the mattress, sensing we'd be here for a while. But Raven only shook his head.

"Is Tigerclaw back?" He asked. Graystripe nodded and I noticed Raven's body tense up. "Wh..what'd he say?"

"He just told us the story of what happened," Graystripe replied and I nodded to reassure the scared looking boy.

"Yeah, but…" Raven faltered, "Did he tell you about Redtail and Oakheart?"

"Yeah," Graystripe nodded, "He told us about how Redtail's in the hospital because of Oakheart and now Oakheart's in the hospital because of him."

"Really?" Raven asked. I began to feel a little uneasy; Raven's reaction to the story Tigerclaw had relayed was something like surprise mixed with fear. "Did he say anything about me?"

"Just that you ran off," Graystripe replied.

"Is he looking for me?"

"Raven, you really shouldn't be talking so much," I looked up at the sound of Spottedleaf's voice as the beautiful young woman bent over to examine my new friend. Raven sighed and closed his eyes, preparing for sleep. Just as Graystripe and I were about to go back into the main room, Spottedleaf stopped us- well, she stopped me. "You're Fireheart?" she asked.

I remained speechless for a second before replying, "Y-yeah, yes, I'm Fireheart." I could feel my face start to flush.

Spottedleaf laughed a little, sensing my surprise, "Well, you did a good job fighting Longtail earlier and I hope you decide to stay with us. You've got a lot of potential." Before I could say anything else she turned away with a smile and the curtain soon obscured my vision.

"Wow…" Graystripe murmured behind me. I turned around to find a cheeky grin plastered onto my friend's face. "I've never seen Spottedleaf just approach someone and talk to them unless they were injured or sick- accept for Bluestar. The two of them are like this," Graystripe crossed his middle and pointer finger, "You know, I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but everybody knows it so what the hell," he pulled me away from the curtain and looked over his shoulder before whispering, "She's not happy."

"What do you mean?" I asked him, confused. She seemed happy enough while we were back there.

"I mean, she's not happy in her relationship. She likes Longtail, but she doesn't have feelings for him. She just doesn't want to hurt him." Graystripe nodded at me with raised eyebrows. I glanced back at the curtain but didn't see her- what I did see, however, was something that peaked my interest in a different way. Tigerclaw was hovering around Spottedleaf's corner, looking as if he wasn't sure if he should go in or not. I remembered how Raven had tensed up at the sound of Tigerclaw's name and how almost afraid he looked.

"Hey, Graystripe, can I ask you something?" I asked, not taking my eyes off Tigerclaw.

"Sure, what?"

"Why did Raven go with Redtail and Tigerclaw?" I didn't know him very well, but already I could tell that Raven wasn't really a rough and tumble kind of guy like Tigerclaw seemed to be. I hadn't met Redtail, but I assumed he must be a little more aggressive if he was willing to meet up with rivals like that in an alley way during school hours.

"Oh, yeah, that's something I forgot to explain to you," Graystripe replied, "Every freshman is assigned an upperclassman as there… I don't know, mentor, I guess? Anyway, the upperclassman kind of shows them the ropes the first few months and typically teaches them how to fight. Usually the two of you become best friends. Mine's Lionheart," he paused to wave at Lionheart, who smiled and waved back at him, "Sandstorm's is Whitestorm, and Dusty's is… Redtail." We both looked over to where Dusty was punching and kicking one of the training dummies, a look of frustration glued to his face. "Bluestar appoints the mentors. Usually she'll choose someone who's really different from the freshman. Whitestorm, Lionheart, and Redtail are all really good fighters but they've got more of a level head, especially Whitestorm. Tigerclaw and Raven though…" I looked back over at the curtain to discover that Tigerclaw had gone back to the windowsill and was talking quietly with Darkstripe. Graystripe shook his head, "I don't know, but it's not working. Raven's terrified."

I continued to throw what I hoped were casual glances over at Tigerclaw, silently praying that I wouldn't end up with someone like him as my mentor.


	6. Dye, Dye Again

Chapter 6

A week had gone by and I found myself slowly but surely adjusting to Thunderson and my new friends. Most of them had found me on Facebook and had invited me to join their secret online club entitled "Thunder-Warriors". I had spent the past few nights scrolling through the group's photo gallery and was surprised at what I saw: it was a mixture of scenes from martial arts tournaments and summer getaways. There was even a group beach shot that included a smiling Tigerclaw. I still hadn't heard anything from Smudge since I'd left him- I never even saw him outside anymore.

"I'm surprised Bluestar hasn't gotten someone for you yet," Graystripe said as he twirled a piece of grass between his fingers. We were sitting outside the back door that led to our room, hoping to escape a joint lesson with Lionheart in the last thirty minutes before it was time to head home. Graystripe was referring now to the fact that Bluestar had postponed (or forgetten) getting me a mentor, which explained why I was learning alongside Graystripe for the time being.

"Yeah, me too," I agreed. _No mentor is better than having Tigerclaw, _I thought silently. I assumed two freshmen weren't allowed to share a mentor, so that did exclude Tigerclaw, but it did leave me the options of Darkstripe or Longtail.

"Oh hey!" Graystripe exclaimed suddenly, dropping the grass, "Are you doing anything after this?" I shook my head. "Dude," he ruffled my hair, "It's dye time."

"No!" I stood up and took a step back. "There's no way I'm gonna let you do that, my parents would _kill_ me."

"Come on, man," Graystripe pleaded, standing up, "Look, I've gotta plan: call your parents and tell them you're going to sleep over at my house with me and Raven. Instead, we'll go to Mouse's house and dye your hair, and then when you get home tomorrow just tell them Raven and I did it while you were sleeping. It's a Friday, I'm sure they'll let you stay over." I looked at him worriedly, knowing that there was no way my parents would let me get away with any of this. I thought back to how my life had been before coming to Thunderson. It was comfortable, relaxed, happy… boring. Wordlessly, I pulled my phone out from my pocket and texted my mom:

_Staying at Granville's overnight. Be back tomorrow at 9_

Technically speaking we weren't supposed to use each other's real names, but there was no way I was telling my mom that my friend's name was Graystripe. My phone buzzed with a response but I didn't bother to check it. "Okay, let's go."

"Yes!" Graystripe leapt into the air. "Go get Raven, I'll get Darkstripe to give us a ride home."

A minute later I was dragging a somewhat reluctant Raven over to where Graystripe was talking to his older brother. "Oohhhh my Goddd," Darkstripe exclaimed, tilting his head back in frustration. "Get a ride from Lionheart, you little fuck."

"Dude, come on," I winced as my friend punched Darkstripe in the arm. Darkstripe shoved him hard and just as Graystripe was about to leap on him, I grabbed him and held him back.

"I'm really sorry," I said to Darkstripe, "But would you mind just dropping us off at your house?" Darkstripe narrowed his eyes at me and I couldn't tell if he was more irritated or confused. His sour expression suddenly turned calm and almost languid as he flipped his hair out of his eyes and motioned for us to follow him out.

"Get off me," Graystripe shook me off of him and I realized that I'd still been clutching onto his arms.

"Sorry," I apologized again as I followed the three boys outside. When we got out to the parking lot I was disappointed, but not surprised, to see that Darkstripe's car was one of the most beat-up looking ones I'd ever seen. I slid into the back alongside Raven while the two brother sat in the front. I had to watch where I put my hands and feet due to the copious amounts of empty beer cans and cigarettes. "What the hell is this?" I tried whispering to Raven, but the poor boy seemed to be paralyzed in fear. His wound from earlier had turned out to be shallower than it looked and he was well enough to walk around again. Darkstripe revved up the engine and started blasting some sort of violent-sounding hip hop.

"This is gonna be fast!" he yelled over the music. "I'm already late for some shit, I don't need to waste my time with you!"

"Drop us at Mouse's!" Graystripe yelled back at him. Darkstripe rolled his eyes and started to drive. My expression soon matched Raven's as we drove jerkingly down streets that were… not as nice as mine. Seeing my expression in the rearview mirror, Darkstripe laughed and lit a cigarette while somehow remaining in control of the vehicle. Not soon enough, we pulled up to a small, but tall, home with a nice green coating.

"Get out!" Darkstripe commanded and the three of us scrambled out of his car. I was barely out the door before he pulled out of the drive way and sped away. Now that the music was gone I could finally hear myself think again.

"Sorry about that," Graystripe said sheepishly, "He's a dick. Anyway, Mouse should be home by now." As we walked up to Mouse's house, I couldn't help but take in my surroundings; the street we were on seemed poor in my eyes, but I saw little kids running up and down the street playing tag, riding bikes, while neighbors conjoined for barbecues and Frisbee. I'd never seen anything like that where I lived. Mostly people just came out of their house to get the paper. The sound of metal scraping against concrete broke me out of my thoughts as Graystripe opened a metal gate that led to Mouse's back door. I hadn't really met Mouse before, all I knew was that she was a cute sophomore who got the name Mouse because she was only four feet tall. Graystripe knocked on her back door and almost instantly we were greeted by a small girl with dark brown hair tied into a messy bun that gave her three extra inches in height.

"Come in, guys," she opened the door for us and we stepped into the smallest kitchen I'd ever seen. There was barely enough room for the four of us in between a white plastic-looking refrigerator and a fake wooden table. "Basement's this way," As I walked down the cold dark stair well that led to Mouse's basement I couldn't help but fear that they were all just planning to kill me and leave my body down here. The lights flickered on and I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn't see anything that could be used for my destruction. "So, Fireheart," Mouse turned around to face me, a mischievous smile playing at her lips. "What do you want?" I was about to reply "nothing" but Graystripe beat me to it.

"I was thinking we could do all of this orange and then the ends would be red," he said, "It would be like fire!" He waved his hands around my head frantically as if to illustrate the point. Mouse laughed in amusement and waved me over to a salon-like chair she had dragged next to an old sink in the corner. I looked over at Raven, who had sat himself down on a couch and was flipping through a magazine, clearly uncomfortable.

"And are you sure you're okay with this?" Mouse asked me with a reassuring smile after I had sat down.

"Yes!" Graystripe replied for me again. "Oh my God, dude, this is going to be so awesome! Oh, also can you put this on his back?" My heart sank as my friend pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. He unfolded it to reveal, of course, a dark red heart with flames coming out of the top of it. My face blanched and I clutched the leather arms of the chair. Mouse smiled and shook her head, then whirled my chair around to face her so that Graystripe couldn't interrupt again.

"But are _you_ okay with all of this?"

I thought for a minute, then asked, "I'm cool with the hair."

"Yes!" Graystripe exclaimed under his breath. His eagerness and excitement was starting to rub off on me.

"But where would the tattoo be?"

"Wherever you want," Mouse replied as she started pulling out supplies from a cabinet. I thought for a minute longer. It would have to be some place on my body that wouldn't be too visible to my parents.

"Where are yours?" I asked Graystripe and Raven.

Graystripe snorted, "Mine's nothing," he held up the underside of his arms to display two gray stripes on his wrists. "Raven's is awesome. Show him."

Raven got off the couch and took off his shirt. Knowing how shy he was I was expecting something small, but when he turned around I stared in awe at the giant raven on his back, wings spread out as if they were his own. Empowered by a sudden surge of recklessness and excitement, I tore off my shirt and pointed to my heart. "Right here," I said, swallowing back fear. Mouse's smile broadened and took the design from Graystripe.

Hours later, my hair was done and it was time for the needle. The chair I was in reclined backward and I stared up at the ceiling, bracing myself for the pain. Now that it was actually happening, I was wondering if this was the safest idea. Even though it was done, Mouse told me I wasn't allowed to see my hair until the tattooing was complete, but if I looked up enough I could kind of see an unfamiliar red haze creeping onto my forehead. I winced as the needle pierced my skin and my fingers dug into the hard leather chair. I scrunched my eyes shut and through my eyelids I could see a flash of white light, followed by a playful snicker. I squinted and saw Graystripe standing above me, taking pictures of my face with his phone. Raven was there too, trying to suppress a smile at Graystripe's antics. I realized then that despite the pain I was feeling and the dread of what my parents would say when they saw me next, I was happy. This was where I was meant to be.

When we were finally done and I was able to get up from the chair, I felt stiff from remaining still for so long. There was a patch over where my new tattoo was so I couldn't see it yet, but I was (surprisingly) eager to. "You should wait a little before taking that off," Mouse said as she began putting away her stuff.

"How long?" I asked.

Mouse shrugged, "Not too long," she replied, "Probably just the time it takes to get to Graystripe's house from here."

"Oh, yeah, now we get to go home!" Graystripe added, "Then you'll get to take a look at yourself." My friend stood back to get a better look at me, "God, you look awesome. You're gonna love it!" Mouse smiled and nodded.

"You do look really cool, Fireheart," Raven added, giving me a small smile. I smiled back at him before putting my shirt back on.

"I'll text Darkstripe and tell him to pick us up," I looked at Graystripe pleadingly as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, "Sorry, man, but it's too far to walk."

"What about your parents?" I asked. Graystripe, in the middle of looking for his brother in his contacts, suddenly froze for a moment, then shook his head. "Nah, my mom's still working. Come on, Dark says he'll be here in an hour, which actually means he'll be here in a minute." I waved goodbye to Mouse and followed my friends back outside. It had gotten much darker since we got here and I suddenly remembered that I hadn't checked my mom's response to see if I could stay out. There were two messages:

_No. _The first one read. Then, after an hour, _Fine, but if you get into any trouble you call us __**immediately**__._ I smiled and slid the phone back into my pocket. If what I'd just done constituted for them as "trouble" then it was a little too late.


End file.
